“In BITEF Theatre the performance “Sisters in Arms” directed by Sanja Krsmanovic Tasic was performed, and left a strong impression of an unusual, unique approach to a research project. Actors from New Zealand and Belgrade told us the intervened story about World War One through documentarism and personal histories. The historical moment in Serbia is brought to life by the character of Sofija Jovanovic played by her own great granddaughter. In a most spontaneous way fatal stories about women and customs, and all is condensed in the last scene of endnotes, where the audience asks questions and gets answers of the performers.”

“Theatre has always the power to be a dialogue with the dead… A plea for witnessing truth,” says Sanja Krsmanović Tasić, director of Hleb Teatar in Belgrade, Serbia.

This uplifting sense of mission animates Sisters in Arms, the stirring new work of Hleb (Bread) Teatar and its New Zealand collaborator, Ake Ake Theatre Company. Kudos to Creative NZ WW1 Centenary Fund for recognising the worth of supporting this memorable partnership.(…)

Both women, Sanja Krsmanović Tasić and Jessica Latton, believe true history lies in the fate of the individual; that the horror of war must be set against personal stories of real bravery and generosity. The stories that Sisters in Arms unfolds through thrilling physical theatre, accompanied by live music, exemplify this high courage.(…)

Little boats carrying lit candles are towed across the stage to represent the soldiers sailing to war. An ironic repetition of pinning on medals underlines the cruel absurdity of the ceremony. I am enraptured by the way the body of a wounded soldier is carried by each member of the company in turn, transferring the weight, constantly reinventing achingly beautiful ways for bodies to support bodies.(…)

This is transcendent theatre that goes a long way towards the stated aim of helping people understand people, of stopping the circles of war and violence that keep repeating. The audience is enthusiastic in its applause. My mother, a blur of ethereal silver hair in the dark beside me (a dancer herself, who claims she trod grapes in Serbia in the 1930s), says emphatically, “This is significant. To take something as terrible as war and create something so moving, that is significant.”